Projo Pats Blog

All this week on the projo PatsBlog, Jim Donaldson will be reliving the 13 games played by the Colts and the Patriots this decade, when the two former AFC East doormats became the hottest rivalry in the NFL. We'll also present archival photos of the games. We continue with the 2007 regular-season meeting in which both teams came in with perfect records -- and that would prove to be the Patriots' toughest regular-season challenge.

The Patriots came to Indianapolis 8-0. The Colts were 7-0. Never before in NFL history had two undefeated teams met so late in the season.

The Colts were the defending Super Bowl champions, having advanced to the Big Game by overcoming an 18-point deficit against the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

Having lost that game, the Patriots acquired two outstanding -- and wonderfully complementary -- receivers in Randy Moss and Wes Welker, finally providing stellar quarterback Tom Brady with pass catchers worthy of his considerable talents.

With Moss running past defenders and Welker darting between them, the Patriots were averaging nearly 42 points a game, and Brady was on pace to break Manning's NFL record of 49 touchdowns passes in a season.

In New England's first eight games, the closest was a 34-17 win over the Browns. That also was the Patriots' lowest point total of the season so far.

So, as regular-season games go, this was as big as it gets.

Two undefeated teams. The two best quarterbacks in the game. Two of the game's best coaches, in Tony Dungy of the Colts and New England's Bill Belichick. Two explosive offenses.

With less than 10 minutes remaining, the Patriots found themselves trailing by 10, 20-10.
A year ago, the Colts had come from behind to beat them. This time, it was the Pats who rallied to win. And it was Moss, who had 9 receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown, who was the difference.

What sparked New England's fourth-quarter rally was a 55-yard bomb from Brady to Moss that put the ball on the Indy 3, where Brady found Welker in the end zone to cut the Colts' lead to 20-17.

"We didn't have an answer for Randy Moss," Dungy said. "We paid a lot of attention to him, trying to stop him from catching the deep balls. But then he caught the deep one at the big time of the game. That really was the play of the game."

The game-winning TD came on a 13-yard pass from Brady to Kevin Faulk, coming out of the backfield. It was set up by a 33-yard completion to Donte' Stallworth.

The New England defense, which had been shredded for 32 points in the second half of the 2006 AFC Championship game, was much tougher this time, twice holding the Colts to field goals after they'd moved inside the 10-yard line in the first half.

"That," said Brady, "was a hell of a game."

 Tags  Patriots vs. Colts

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